Tapping America's Potential

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The momentum for improving U.S. science and technology capabilities has been building across the country. This has been particularly apparent in the news, as more and more newspapers have been increasing their coverage of the issue. Use the links below to read more.

Editorial and Op-ed Support
News Coverage

Editorial and Op-ed Support

March 28, 2010 — The Seattle Times (Editorial) — “Washington's Flat Test Scores Suggest Refocusing is Needed”
Stagnant reading scores of Washington's fourth- and eighth-grade students, highlighted by a national assessment, are troubling. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) offers a reliable yardstick of student achievement nationwide. Current measurements show many students are not on track for high school graduation and success in college or employment. Washington is not an anomaly. Out of 50 states, seven showed change and that included sharp declines for four.

March 20, 2010 — New York Times (Opinion) — “America's Real Dream Team”
Indeed, if you need any more convincing about the virtues of immigration, just come to the Intel science finals. I am a pro-immigration fanatic. I think keeping a constant flow of legal immigrants into our country - whether they wear blue collars or lab coats - is the key to keeping us ahead of China. Because when you mix all of these energetic, high-aspiring people with a democratic system and free markets, magic happens. If we hope to keep that magic, we need immigration reform that guarantees that we will always attract and retain, in an orderly fashion, the world's first-round aspirational and intellectual draft choices.

March 20, 2010 — Los Angeles Times (Editorial) — “Real Immigration Reform, Now”
It is time to turn up the heat on the issue. It is time to remind the nation of the economic, political and moral imperative of reforming the immigration system. All Americans are less secure because millions of people are living in the shadows -- the country should know, as precisely as possible, who is here. Illegal immigrants labor in an underground economy, essential to our workforce but vulnerable to exploitation. Thousands of our best and brightest students, brought to this country as small children, have limited access to higher education and legal employment.

March 19, 2010 — Washington Post (Opinion) — “The Right Way to Mend Immigration”
Our immigration system is badly broken. Although our borders have become far more secure in recent years, too many people seeking illegal entry get through. We have no way to track whether the millions who enter the United States on valid visas each year leave when they are supposed to. And employers are burdened by a complicated system for verifying workers' immigration status. Last week we met with President Obama to discuss our draft framework for action on immigration. We expressed our belief that America's security and economic well-being depend on enacting sensible immigration policies. The answer is simple: Americans overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration and support legal immigration. Throughout our history, immigrants have contributed to making this country more vibrant and economically dynamic.

Editorial and Op-Ed Archive

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News Coverage

March 26, 2010 — Investors Business Daily — “To Thrive, U.S. Needs Skilled Immigrants”
Most of the attention will be focused on the much maligned amnesty issue but the plight of highly skilled foreign temporary workers and immigrants will be ignored and the labor demands of U.S. firms will go unsatisfied. Beginning on April 1st, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will begin accepting applications for the highly skilled H-1B visas. Under that visa, the law admits 85,000 foreign high skilled and U.S.-trained workers under a 6-year company sponsored work visa. The chaos caused by issuing so few visas will be on full display when applications begin to flood USCIS.

March 24, 2010 — New York Times — “Stagnant National Reading Scores Lag Behind Math”
The nation's schoolchildren have made little or no progress in reading proficiency in recent years, according to results released Wednesday from the largest nationwide reading test. The scores continue a 17-year trend of sluggish achievement in reading that contrasts with substantial gains in mathematics during roughly the same period. "The nation has done a really good job improving math skills," said Mark Schneider, a vice president at the American Institutes for Research and a former official at the Education Department, which oversees the test, known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. "In contrast, we have made only marginal improvements in reading."

March 24, 2010 — Christian Science Monitor — “US 'Report Card' on Reading: 8th-Graders Gain, 4th-Graders Don't”
For the first time since 2003, America's fourth-graders failed to make any improvements in reading, according to a report released Wednesday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the "nation's report card." For most of the past decade, elementary school students have made steady progress on reading, math, and other subjects, while eighth-graders and high schoolers have shown more mixed performance. Between 2007 and 2009, it was the eighth-graders who made some slight gains, while fourth-grade scores were virtually unchanged.

March 22, 2010 — USA Today — “Silicon Valley is Losing Foreign-Born Talent”
The talent-exodus problems don't end there. Fewer foreign students are coming to the Valley to earn engineering and science degrees, according to the Silicon Valley Index, which takes the economic pulse of the Valley each year." Foreign-born students earned 16.6% of the total degrees awarded in science and engineering programs from local colleges and universities in 2007, compared with 18.4% in 2003, the study says. "We're in the midst of a massive brain drain," says Vivek Wadhwa, a senior research associate at Harvard Law School who has done extensive research on the topic."For the first time, immigrants have better opportunities outside the U.S." Often, a lack of work visas blocks foreign talent from staying. Only 120,000 to 140,000 temporary work visas are available each year in the U.S.

March 22, 2010 — Computer World — “After Health Care Vote, High-Skill Immigration Quickly Returns”
With President Barack Obama set to sign the health care bill on Tuesday, high-skill immigration issues are back in Congress and in court. Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R- S.C), late last week, released an immigration reform "blueprint" in advance of their legislation that calls for giving permanent residency or green cards to immigrants who receive a PhD or master's degree in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. university. "It makes no sense to educate the world's future inventors and entrepreneurs and then force them to leave when they are able to contribute to our economy," they wrote in an op-ed published on Friday in the Washington Post. President Barack Obama praised the framework develop by Schumer and Graham, as well as "pledge to do everything in my power to forge a bipartisan consensus this year on this important issue so we can continue to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform."

March 19, 2010 — Reuters — “Obama Backs 'Framework' to Revamp Immigration”
Obama said the proposal by Democrat Charles Schumer and Republican Lindsey Graham, which features a new identification card for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want a job, "can and should be the basis for moving us forward." In an article posted online by The Washington Post, Schumer and Graham wrote "our immigration system is badly broken" and outlined a four-point plan to fix it. In addition to the high-tech identification cards, they called for: bolstering border security, creating a new process for admitting temporary workers, and implementing a "tough but fair path to legalization for those already here."

March 18, 2010 — USA Today — “Pledges to Push Immigration Reform”
Just hours after he cancelled an international trip to stay in Washington and fight for health care legislation, President Obama has announced that he's ready to start pushing forward on another controversial issue: immigration reform. In an election year, no less. A week after he met with senators Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, to talk about immigration, he congratulated them on working together to come up with a "framework" for reform.

March 4, 2010 — Los Angeles Times — “Obama looking to Give New Life to Immigration Reform”
In the session, Obama and members of his Domestic Policy Council outlined ways to resuscitate the effort in a White House meeting with two senators -- Democrat Charles E. Schumer of New York and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- who have spent months trying to craft a bill. According to a person familiar with the meeting, the White House may ask Schumer and Graham to at least produce a blueprint that could be turned into legislative language. The basis of a bill would include a path toward citizenship for the 10.8 million people living in the U.S. illegally. Citizenship would not be granted lightly, the White House said. Undocumented workers would need to register, pay taxes and pay a penalty for violating the law. Failure to comply might result in deportation. Nick Shapiro, a White House spokesman, said the president's support for an immigration bill, which would also include improved border security, was "unwavering."

March 3, 2010 — BusinessWeek — “VC's Push StartUp Visa Act”
The StartUp Visa would help keep foreign founders in the U.S., says Paul Graham, co-founder of Mountain View (Calif.)-based startup incubator Y Combinator. "We've funded a number of startups where the founders had to go back to their countries" because they couldn't obtain visas, he says. In April, Graham wrote an online essay arguing for the creation of a "founder visa." The post prompted tech influencers including Foundry Group Managing Director Brad Feld and Founders Fund startup investor Dave McClure to push the idea in investing circles and Washington. When Senators Kerry and Lugar introduced their bill on Feb. 24, they were supported by a list of more than 160 venture capitalists and other investors.

March 1, 2010 — Business Insider — “The StartUp Visa Act Won't Steal Jobs From Americans”
Last week, Senator Lugar (R-IN) went on CNBC's Street Signs to discuss the StartUp Visa Act that he and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) recently introduced. Lugar focused on quelling concerns that this act would steal jobs from Americans, explaining how it would actually create them instead. He said that "this is what competition is about in the world, as opposed to talent and capital flowing the other way."

News Coverage Archive

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